Marijuana, cannabis, hemp; they
are all references to the same plant. Government officials and
the media have made distinctions; however, I want to stress the usefulness
of the plant as a whole. I also want to shed some light on popular
marijuana myths, as well as demonstrate the importance of hemp as a
natural resource. The prohibition of marijuana has led to a tax-powered
police state which refuses to accept the true value of cannabis. Hopefully,
if we all work together for education, we may see the legalization
of marijuana sooner than most people think.

On
a historical note, hemp has been used by humans for a variety of useful
purposes for the last 10,000 years. The earliest known woven fabric was apparently made from
hemp. From more than 1,000 years before the time of Christ until
the late 1800’s, cannabis hemp was our planet’s largest
agricultural crop. Also, hemp was an important industry involving
hundreds of products such as fiber, fabric, lighting oil, paper, incense
and medicines. Almost all civilizations throughout history have
incorporated cannabis for spiritual and religious purposes. Cannabis
has been an integral part of our cultural, spiritual, and physiological
heritage, so why are things different now?

The
first prohibitive measure in the U.S. was the Marijuana Tax Act which
passed in December of 1937. Marijuana
was not banned outright; however importers, manufacturers, sellers
and distributors were required to register with the Secretary of Treasury
and pay an occupational tax. At the time this law was passed,
The head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger, emphasized
that “marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history
of mankind.” He thus pushed on Congress that about 50%
of all violent crimes committed in the U.S. could be traced directly
to marijuana. In actuality, statistics showed at least 65-75%
of all murders in the U.S. were then, and still are, alcohol related.

Despite
claims among researchers that marijuana held lucrative potential
for both medicine and industry, politicians and corporate leaders
dominated the war against cannabis marijuana and eventually got
their way. Soon the FBN (which has
since evolved into the Drug Enforcement Agency [DEA]) adopted a non-tolerant
view of cannabis, marijuana, making it its use unacceptable. Around
1940 and again in 1976 attempts were made to ban medical research of
marijuana. Regardless of the political history of marijuana this
century, the question remains as to whether or not the progression
toward the legalization of marijuana will have detrimental if not devastating
effects on our nation’s health and social structure.

The
Federal Government’s
policy on marijuana maintains that the drug is extremely dangerous
to one’s health. They argue that long term use will cause
irreversible brain damage. Many people today hold the conception
that people that smoke marijuana are babbling idiots with a memory
that is virtually nonexistent. Drug prevention organizations
stress that marijuana seriously impairs one’s physical and mental
abilities to perform everyday tasks, and also destroys one’s
moral value. They also hold the position that marijuana use will
lead to harder drugs such as heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamines.

Unfortunately,
many of the DEA’s
claims against marijuana are supported by little to no scientific evidence. There
has been no evidence that marijuana causes any permanent physiological
or psychological damage. Several clinical tests which have compared
the ability of heavy users and non-users to perform tasks of memorizing
lists and recalling information show that the response from heavy users
was at most slightly impaired, but still fell well within normal parameters. There
is also no evidence to support the claim that marijuana is a “gateway
drug.” In fact, ninety-eight percent of heroin users started
smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol first.

Perhaps
the most pressing issue today is whether or not marijuana should
be used medically to treat cancer and AIDS patients. Many people suffering from these afflictions
swear by marijuana. However, others, including corporations which
supply synthetic drugs, claim that there are far better drugs on the
market than marijuana.

The reason
why many cancer and AIDS patients, undergoing chemotherapy, are trying
to gain access to the drug is so they can eliminate the unbearable
nausea associated with chemo. Also, marijuana is used to maintain a healthy body
weight, because it helps patients eat and keep down food. To
these people marijuana use makes the difference between feeling like
you are “dying of” AIDS or cancer and feeling like you
are “living with” AIDS or cancer. Two states in the U.S.,
California and Arizona, have already passed medical marijuana policies,
and the results are promising. Despite these steps in the right
direction, the DEA has consistently tried to shut down cannabis buyer
operations which allow patients to receive their medicine. This
has led hundreds of people no other choice than to buy their marijuana
on the street through the black market.

Obviously,
large pharmaceutical corporations who rely on the sale of their synthesized
products to make outlandish profits object to the use of medicinal
marijuana. These
same pharmaceutical medications are responsible for the more than 100,000
deaths annually in the U.S. The companies that produce these
drugs are also responsible for poisoning some 500,000 people each year
in Third World countries. This practice of “product dumping” leads
to the sale of over 150 different dangerous drugs which are banned
in the U.S., yet are sold over-the-counter in countries like Colombia,
Mexico, Panama, Chile, Honduras and Nicaragua.

While
legal prescription medications continue to cause death and injury,
no deaths are known to ever have directly resulted from use of cannabis. In addition to treating
cancer and AIDS patients, marijuana has dozens of other medical uses. Cannabis
marijuana is been known to alleviate asthma, epilepsy, glaucoma, multiple
sclerosis, back pain, arthritis, herpes, cystic fibrosis and rheumatism,
as well as many other health disorders. In response to claims
that marijuana causes cancer, one must simply consult the facts which
show that there have never been any cases of lung cancer, ever, caused
by marijuana.

In fact, the two
leading killers in our country are not only legal, but are supported
by major corporations and agricultural organizations; these are of
course tobacco and alcohol. Tobacco
kills between 340,000 to 450,000 people per year. Alcohol (not
including 50% of all highway deaths and 65% of all murders) kills approximately
150,000 people annually. Both of these drugs are very addictive
and have severe withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana, on the other
hand, is responsible for zero American deaths, and is also non-addictive
and does not cause any withdrawal symptoms.

Despite
the promising medical research involving marijuana, doctors around
the country are prohibited from prescribing the herb that Federal
Judge Francis Young in 1988 called “one of the safest therapeutically active substances known
to man.” We don’t put our doctors in charge of stopping
violent crimes. The police, prosecutors, and prison guards should
not be in charge of which herbal therapies people may use to treat
their personal health problems.

The
DEA argues that proponents of marijuana legalization simply want
to get high without running the risk of going to jail. The important thing to remember is that
legalization will have far reaching effects on countless individuals,
only a small portion of which are marijuana smokers. The incorporation
of cannabis into our social and agricultural system will not only contribute
to medical advances, but will also promote advances in food, material,
and energy production.

Perhaps the most
surprising and environmentally relevant uses of marijuana involve
energy and fuel production. Hemp stems are 80% hurds (pulp byproduct after the
hemp fiber is removed from the plant). Hemp hurds are 77% cellulose – a
primary chemical raw material used in the production of chemicals,
plastics, and fibers. It is a sad fact that by the end of this
year our nation’s petroleum resources will have dwindled to 20%
of their original size. This means time is running out. We
will either be forced to use more coal, further polluting the environment;
continue to fund nuclear power and risk annihilation of the planet;
convert forests into fuel, permanently destroying life sustaining ecosystems;
continually wage wars over foreign oil; or establish energy farms to
grow biomass fuels. Hemp is Earth’s number one biomass
resource. Farming only 6% of continental U.S. acreage with biomass
crops such as hemp would provide all of America’s gas and oil
energy needs, ending dependence upon fossil fuels. Hemp is the
only biomass source available that is capable of making the U.S. energy
independent.

Hemp can also be used
to make paper and fabrics. Hemp pulp paper is stronger, more durable,
and cheaper to produce than the pulp paper we use today. Until
1883, from 75-90% of nearly all paper in the world was made with hemp. Reports
show that one acre of cannabis hemp, in annual rotation over a 20-year
period, would produce as much pulp for paper as is equal to 4.1 acres
of trees being cut down over the same 20-year period. Also, hemp
paper production causes four to seven times less pollution. In
addition to paper, hempseed oil can be used to produce paints and varnishes.

Still
another incredible use for cannabis is food. Of the 3 million plus edible plants that grow
on Earth, no other single plant source can compare with the nutritional
value of hempseeds. Hempseeds are the richest source of fatty
acids and essential oils in the world. Also, they can be used
to make almost every type of food.

With
all these useful ways in which marijuana could help our country,
why is it that the federal government refuses to acknowledge the
overwhelming evidence in support of marijuana? They hold fast to their religion: that prohibition
works. Apparently, the DEA thinks that the dangers of marijuana
hemp far outweigh its benefits. If legalized, they feel that
national health problems will increase as will violent crime. They
also maintain that the number of nation wide addicts will go off the
chart.

They call it a “War on Drugs;” however
it could be best described as a “War on People.” In
1978, before this war on drugs had been officially initiated, there
were 300,000 people in American prisons for all crimes combined. Today,
only 21 years later, there are more than 800,000 people imprisoned
for drug charges alone. Think of all the American tax dollars
spent on prisons. In addition, even though the DEA is supposedly
interested mainly in controlling harder drugs, 50% of all drug enforcement
money, federal and state, during the last 60 years has been directed
toward marijuana.

The DEA admits they
have made absolutely no dent in the overall amount of drugs in this
country. Even
the largest busts have no effect on street prices, and the confiscated
material is replaced immediately by the overwhelming flow of drugs
into the country. So what’s all the money being used for? Obviously,
prohibition of marijuana is not working, and we cannot keep throwing
people in prison. What other options are there? The Dutch
City of Amsterdam, for example, adopted a policy of tolerance and non-prosecution
of cannabis smokers and rehabilitation for harder drug users. Their
statistics show a substantial reduction in marijuana smoking among
teenagers, and a 33% drop in the number of heroin addicts. These
statistics are hard to verify, mainly because research has been very
limited; however, the Amsterdam model is living proof that there are
other ways.

It would be more than prudent
for our country to work towards an acceptance of hemp marijuana. The
federal government, the DEA, and other drug prevention organizations
operate on a policy of disinformation, which refuses to accept the
usefulness of this natural resource. Studies have shown, time
and time again, that marijuana does not cause the serious psychological
effects that the government insists it does. Marijuana is non-addictive,
causes no withdrawals, and is much safer than many of today’s
popular pharmaceuticals. Hemp has many other uses than just smoking,
some of which are possible means to save the planet. We can stop
deforestation, cease dependence on fossil fuels, and reverse the greenhouse
effect. The millions of dollars spent on prosecuting and jailing
drug law offenders, is not helping the problem one bit. The government’s “War
on Drugs” serves only to fill the pockets of politicians and
corporations with American tax dollars. So what are we waiting
for? Educate yourself by learning the facts, the facts that the
government ceaselessly tries to suppress, and make a difference now.

- other titles are missing from
this reference, but the best book, and a huge influence on this paper
has been The Emperor Wears No Cloths"